


Nightmares I

by Nazorin76



Series: Aoipei Domestic au [1]
Category: Zero Escape (Video Games)
Genre: 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors, 999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors Spoilers, Alternate Universe - Domestic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cohabitation, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Domestic Boyfriends, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Light Angst, M/M, Nightmares, One Shot, Post-999: Nine Hours Nine Persons Nine Doors, Post-Game(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sappy, Sharing a Bed, Short One Shot, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 08:39:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19787263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nazorin76/pseuds/Nazorin76
Summary: *Warnings for referenced/implied canon major character death au and referenced/implied violence including mention of blood, M bc the source is M, not for anything specificAfter the true end, Junpei and Santa established a psychic link in the field during their time in 999, connecting their minds. Now, dating and sharing an apartment, they also share nightmares.They have some issues to work out and some unresolved psychological trauma, but who better to help them recover from it but each other?No relation to Nightmares A, just same premise





	Nightmares I

**Author's Note:**

> I still haven't beaten VLR or even started ZTD so this probably doesn't contains any spoilers for those.

"No... No... No...!"

"Please, stop... Stop, please stop...!" 

"-Santa...! Santa!" 

"...-ei! - npei! Junpei! "

Junpei sits bolt upright in bed, gasping for air, glancing around wildly. 

"Junpei, Junpei, it's okay, it's ok, Junpei, I'm here, I'm right here Junpei, it's okay... I'm here... "

They sob into each other's arms, shaking, soaking their nightshirts, while the other strokes their hair and back soothingly, murmuring soft words of comfort and understanding... 

"I'm right here... You're not alone anymore... I'm here... We're here... It's okay...I've got you... You're safe... Shh... There, there... You're okay... We're okay... " 

In between sobs, "I l-love you...! I love you, I love you I love you I love you...! I..." 

"shhh... I know... I know, and I love you too... I love you... I love you... I love you... I love you..." 

Between each phrase he plants a sweet kiss on his head... His shoulder... His hand... His eyelids... His nose... He brushes his damp hair out of his eyes and cups his cheeks in his hands, so soft, so warm, tenderly, like holding a precious, priceless work of art...  
Junpei sniffles pathetically, hysterical sobs having abated slightly to whimpering through the kisses. He won't meet his eyes, as if abashed, as if afraid. 

Afraid of what he would see. 

Afraid of seeing the nightmare in person. 

As if the man beside him now, the man sharing his bed, whom he'd just cried over, who had woken him from that very nightmare again, whom he'd seen die in that same nightmare countless times in countless ways; as if he wasn't the one he thought he'd fallen asleep with. 

"... Hey, Junpei." 

He clasps his thin wrists and tried to pull his face from those hands, clamping his eyes shut, the hands he'd dreamt were stained with blood-

"Hey, hey, Junpei... Junpei..." 

The silver-haired boy leaned in and gently pressed their foreheads together. 

"Junpei... I love you." 

Junpei opened his eyes. 

The other's were closed. He was taking slow, deep, measured breaths, but they shook slightly. With their foreheads touching, Junpei could feel him heating up.  
Santa blinked slowly, avoiding Junpei's gaze. 

His thumbs wiped the tears from Junpei's cheeks, caressing his cheek bones, brushing his eyelashes, tracing the cut of his jaw to his chin and back with his fingertips. 

"Hey, Junpei..." 

His voice was little more than a whisper. 

"I really... Kinda love ya." 

Junpei stared at Santa, but he still didn't meet his eyes.  
"I really... Rreeeeaaallly love ya. I fuckin' do." 

Junpei let go of Santa's arms, which had slackened their grip, and instead held his face, tilting it up to look at him. Santa tried to avoid Junpei's intense gaze by looking anywhere else, but couldn't help his eyes flickering over. Junpei could feel his quickened pulse under his fingertips, and the heat of his blood rushing to his cheeks.

"You mean it?" 

"Kh- I always mean it, you absolute walnut," Santa huffed. "... And I always meant it..." 

Junpei smiled. He brought their foreheads together again. 

Santa pressed back. Then he leaned further forward to nuzzle Junpei with his nose as if to rub his blush off, then he pushed their mouths together and kissed him chastly with a growl that was more indignant than anything. 

With an absolutely childish "mwa" he broke it just as suddenly as he'd started it and pulled Junpei into a hug. Santa nestled his face into Junpei's neck and muttered into his skin. 

"God, I love you so fuckin' much and I'd /never/ leave you. I'll tell you as many times as you want. Until you get it through that thick skull of yours. I'm yours and I'm never going anywhere. Seriously, genius, I know we've been through a lot of unbelievable shit, but this, you gotta believe me. Jesus, Junpei, I love you so much I can't stand it. "

Junpei wrapped his arms around his skinny frame and squeezed him tighter than he knew he liked, actually popping his back and drawing a muffled grunt into his neck, along with the rest of the air in Santa's lungs. However, he didn't otherwise object, and let Junpei crush him like a ragdoll. He squeezed back, gripping his nightshirt tightly.

They sat like this, feeling their hearts beat in their ears, feeling each other's heart beating, until their breathing synchronized.

When Junpei let go, his tears had dried, and the nightmare seemed a distant memory. 

"Thank you." 

"Anytime." Santa pulled his hair out of his ponytail and began to fix it, not making eye contact, focused on the wrinkles in the bedsheets, but in the cool light of the moon through the window, he could see how he bit his lip, and how his pale cheeks were still flushed.  
He settled back down into the sheets and rested his chin on his pillow, watching Santa adjust the half-dozen Bobby pins he used to keep his hair out of the way, although some silver strands always escaped anyway. 

At night, it seemed like he glowed. 

His hair was a wild halo. 

He was the wildest angel Junpei had ever met. 

"Wh-what're you looking at?" 

"An angel." 

Santa scowled. 

"Oh, don't give me that." 

"Why not? I think it's true." 

"Yeah, right," Santa groused, but muttered to himself after, "the only angel around here is you." 

"Hm? What was that?" 

"I SAID the only ANGEL around here is YOU" Santa swatted Junpei with his pillow in a swift motion, sending a tuft of feathers into the air. 

Junpei, from under the pillow, heard a muffled sigh and felt the bed move slightly. He flipped the pillow off as Santa was sliding back under the covers, chest bare.  
Junpei was tempted to hide under the pillow again before Santa caught him ogling but it was too late.  
The sham connected with his face before he could recover. 

The bed shifted again and Junpei cautiously lifted the sham to look. Santa's warm back pressed into his side as he snuggled up to him. 

He reached around, patting the sheets until he found Junpei's arms and wrapped them around himself snugly.

"There. Now you know I'm not going anywhere."  
Overcome with a rush of emotion, Junpei headbutted Santa and nuzzled vigorously. 

"Heyheyheyhey, you're gonna mess up my hair-" Santa complained half-heartedly, but Junpei could hear the smile and hint of laughter in his voice. 

"Okay, I'll fix it-" 

"Don't -" 

Junpei ran his fingers through Santa's hair, dislodging the hair tie and pulling pins out deftly while Santa growled softly. 

He ruffled the fluffy silver mass and buried him face in it, inhaling deeply. 

His scent was so pleasant and nostalgic, and he loved the fruity scented "women's" conditioner he favored.  
Or did he use that conditioner because he knew he liked it? 

He breathed deeply again, sneezing from getting hair in his nose, and doing it again. He couldn't decide what to do with his arms and hands, whether to put Santa in an arm lock, headlock, count every strand of silver, or grope his lean thighs and ass or newly exposed chest, so he settled for all of the above. 

"Okay, okay! Okay, I get it, I get it, thank you, you're welcome," Santa could barely even sound angry anymore and had to bite his lip to stop from laughing, smacking his hands away. 

"Just hold me, genius, it's your fault my shirt's wet, so now you gotta keep me warm," he said, placing Junpei's arms around him again, one hand, perhaps by accident, over his heart, 

"You know I hate the cold." 

**Author's Note:**

> Aoipei is my fav ship in ZE, and my fav for projectingggggggg
> 
> Self-indulgent midnight rambling to ease my aching heart. 
> 
> LET MY BOYS BE HAPPY AND RECOVER! FROM! TRAUMA!
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Please feel free to leave a comment and kudos and tell me what your favorite line/part was!


End file.
